18 Sep Why become a Mental Health First Aider in your place of work?
If you noticed a colleague didn’t appear to be engaging with their work or the people around them, they seemed pre-occupied or not as communicative as usual. You know something is wrong. How would you feel? What would you do? Would you approach your colleague?
It’s natural to feel unmindful, you want to help your colleague but what if you are wrong or rebuked, it could be embarrassing and ruin a work relationship. On the other hand, if a colleague does need support, however, doesn’t know how to ask or is afraid to ask for help, to have someone at work they can trust to listen and talk to would make a world of difference.
Earlier this year, Kathy, attended a Mental Health First Aid course and learnt so much – the course delves deep and is very challenging in parts but in a good way.
After the course, will everyone expect you to suddenly become a professional counsellor and have solutions to everyone’s problems if you attend this course?
Take it from our own experience, no-one will expect this. It is not what the course is about. The idea is for the workplace to become an environment where anyone who is struggling feels safe to talk openly, without any stigma or judgement.
The Mental Health First Aid course will show you how to recognise those that may be experiencing poor mental health and provide them with initial support and early intervention. It will show you how to actively listen with empathy and how to communicate non-judgmentally and the importance of the language we use. It also covers self-care as you need to look after yourself if you are to be in a good place to help others. There is also a whole host of support available following the course from MHFA England.
Regardless of the size of the business, the budget you have or the sector you are in, employee benefits and wellbeing initiatives are important for any organisation and should be integrated into your overall organisational strategy, to have a truly proactive approach to workplace wellbeing.
However, having trained Mental Health First Aid trainers in your business is a good place to start. If employees have the confidence and trust that you as their employer will listen empathetically, not judge, and support them whatever issues they are facing, awkward feelings and conversations are avoided both for those who want to help and those who need someone to talk to.
Poor mental health is as real a medical condition as any physical injury or illness, get the conversations started and the support in place for a happier and healthy workplace.
To find out more about the Mental Health First Aid Course contact us at info@handsonatwork.co.uk or via the contact page on our website www.handsonatwork.co.uk